In November 2017, I returned to this location in advance of the approaching northward Housatonic freight NX-12 that featured two early 1960s-era GP35s in the lead followed by 32 cars (28 loads, 4 empties) and another GP35 at the back.
I find the railroad setting here fascinating. The combination of the traditional line with wooden ties and jointed rail in a setting of old factories, freight house and passenger station makes for a rustic scene out of another era.
Working with a Nikon F3 with 50mm lens I made a series of black & white photos on Kodak Tri-X. And, I also exposed a sequence of digital color photos using my FujiFilm X-T1.
Freight house at Housatonic, Massachusetts. Exposed on Tri-X with a Nikon F3 fitted with a 50mm Nikkor lens. Film processed in Kodak D76 1-1 with water for 7 minutes 20 seconds at 68F.Freight house and factories, looking north from the westside of the tracks. In today’s railroad world, this scene is decidedly rustic. Digital color photo exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1. RAW File processed in Lightroom with contrast adjustment to improve shadows and highlights.Tri-X black & white photo of Housatonic Railroad freight NX-12 working northward.Digital color photo exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1. RAW File processed in Lightroom with contrast adjustment to lighten shadows and control highlights.Tri-X photo with 50mm lens.Digital color photo exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1. Fuji Velvia color profile; camera Jpg scaled for Internet.Digital color photo exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1. Fuji Velvia color profile; camera Jpg scaled for Internet.
June 10, 2016 was a perfect Spring day. Cool, clear, and sunny.
I made a project of following the Housatonic Railroad’s line up its namesake valley from Canaan, Connecticut toward Pittsfield.
Over the years I’d explored parts of this line, but never put all the pieces together.
So, with the northward freight on its way, and fellow photographer Paul Goewey in the navigator’s seat, I arrived at Housatonic in time to make a few photographs.
Contrast Control
Often, even in nearly ideal lighting conditions, it is necessary to make contrast adjustments to digital files.
You never adjusted contrast with color slides, why is this now necessary?
With slides, what you saw was what you got. The only means of adjusting the slide was through the degree of exposure or in filtration (to adjust color etc). The means was imperfect, yet as photographers we grew to accept the results and refine our technique.
Such was never the case with black & white negatives. The negative was only one step in making the photograph, and in the course of printing, contrast adjustment was part of the process.
A digital RAW file is kin to a black & white negative in that both the RAW and the negative are a work in progress; or can be viewed as a step towards an end result.
With these photos, I made some simple changes in post-processing using Lightroom.
Specifically, on the telephoto view I made the following adjustments by manipulating the slider controls (the numbers indicate the amount of change as indicated by the slider) I brought down the highlights (-21) and lightened the shadows (+36), while making nominal adjustments to clarity and saturation sliders.
All my changes were made globally (to the entire file).
Telephoto view of Housatonic Railroad’s northward freight NX-12 at Housatonic. Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
These adjustments were intended to improve presentation on the computer screen.
That is on my screen. I can’t anticipate how they will look on your screen.
Significantly, while I make these changes for presentation, I never alter my original files. Just like back in the day when after making prints I’d file the negatives in archival sleeves. I now store the un-modified RAW files on multiple hard drives. You never know when you might need to return to the original photograph.
Wide angle view at Housatonic. This image was exposed at precisely the same location as the telephoto view above. Here I’ve made a greater change to the shadow areas than with the telephoto view. I felt that the contrast was too harsh and the shadows too inky for the situation. That’s my call. Another photographer might opt to leave them as is.
